Two Section V football teams open at the Dome

Outdoor temperatures aside, there are clues the fall high school sports seasons in Section V are coming up.

Athletes work out and train daily. Coaches are in place. Game, match and meet schedules are set up.

Justin Ritzel of the Canandaigua Daily Messenger with Democrat and Chronicle reporters Marquel Slaughter and James Johnson share what is happening in this and other Varsity Voices newsletters:

Circle these dates

Whether its professional, college, youth or high school sports, all teams begin their seasons with practices.

High school soccer, volleyball, field hockey, girls tennis and football players must participate in a certain number of workouts in order to be eligible to play. The same goes for cross country runners, gymnasts, girls golfers, cheerleaders, swimmers and divers.

Summer leagues, team camps, weightlifting sessions and informal workouts with high school teammates count for nothing, when it comes to this rule of the New York State Public High School Athletic Association, including Section V.

The practices in fall sports that count begin Monday, August 19 for varsity and junior varsity football. The swimming and diving, cheerleading, girls golf, gymnastics, cross country, girls tennis, field hockey, volleyball and soccer seasons start August 26.

Two large school football teams open at the Dome

Section V football season opens the first weekend of September. While most teams begin play on their local gridirons, two will kick off at New York state's most prestigious stage for high school football.

Canandaigua and Victor will travel to Syracuse's JMA Wireless Dome for each's season opener on Friday, Sept. 6, to take on a pair of central New York opponents. Victor opens the doubleheader against Section III's Cicero-North Syracuse at 5 p.m., while Canandaigua takes on West Genesee in the 8 p.m. nightcap.

Presale tickets are $12 and can be purchased at the Syracuse University website.

Victor looks to bounce back this season after a bittersweet 2023, which the Blue Devils were the Section V Class A tournament's No. 1 seed but bowed out in the semifinals to Brighton. Similarly, Canandaigua dropped out on the doorstep of the final with a loss to eventual champion East/World of Inquiry.

Coaching tree grows from Irondequoit

Rashaad Stokelin at Webster Schroeder, Derrick Kemp at Pittsford Sutherland and Kyle Trevas at Irondequoit coach basketball teams in the Monroe County league.

What else do they have in common? All three were point guards when Chris Cardon was the Irondequoit varsity boys basketball coach. Trevas and Kemp later became assistant basketball coaches at Irondequoit.

Funds raised to support former Section V lacrosse coach

Former Fairport boys lacrosse coach Randy Garrett lost his family home last week due to a house fire, but the community has offered a helping hand.

A Go Fund Me was created to support the Garrett family and handle expenses that are not covered by insurance. As of Thursday morning, the fundraiser has raised $27,124, well over the original goal of $18,000.

"We can't thank you all enough for the love and support you have shown the Garrett family! We are truly so grateful to all of you!" said a recent update on the page.

Garrett coached at Fairport from 1980 to 2003 and ranks second all time in coaching wins with 371. He remains with the program as a statistician.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Two Section V football teams open at the Dome